Man found dead in vehicle; investigators suspect foul play

A 20-year-old man was found dead in a vehicle Tuesday morning and investigators, who suspect foul play, are investigating it as a homicide.

Cory Iwanski was last seen by his mother on Saturday. She tried for the last two days to get in touch with her son, but to no avail, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.

Iwanski’s mother reported her son missing to the sheriff’s office Monday.

Officials found Iwanski’s body around 12:21 a.m. Tuesday in a vehicle behind a plaza at 3126 53rd Ave. E., according to the sheriff’s office.

Crime scene tape hung in the parking lot Tuesday morning. A man told the Bradenton Herald a gray Chevrolet Malibu had been parked behind Katie’s Cafe for “a couple of days,” but no one knew who it belonged to. The vehicle had been removed by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

There was trauma to Iwanski’s body. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

Dave Bristow, spokesman for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, confirmed it was a homicide investigation and said officials are “finding out a lot of things” but weren’t ready to release more information.

“It’s moving forward,” Bristow said.

With Iwanski’s death considered a homicide, it marks eight homicides in Manatee County since Aug. 3. There was also one death investigation in Sarasota that officials believe could be connected to an investigation in Manatee.

“We’ve certainly had a lot going on,” Bristow said. “We’ve had it before, unfortunately. It kind of works that way, where it seems like you just get them all in a row.”

On Aug. 3, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to reports of gunfire in the 7400 block of North Tamiami Trail, near Whitfield Avenue, where the body of Melquisedec “Tito” Betancourt, 32, was found in a vehicle in a parking lot behind a business.

Deputies tracked down Karrie Lee Sanderson, a suspect seen running from the scene. Sanderson was taken into custody about 45 minutes later near the Bearded Clam Waterfront Restaurant and Tiki Bar, 7150 N. Tamiami Trail. He was charged with second-degree murder.

The next day, at about 2:45 a.m. Friday, two employees at Zota Beach Resort, 4711 Gulf of Mexico Drive, Longboat Key, were killed during an armed robbery.

Security guard Kevin Carter, 51, of Bradenton, and night front-desk manager Timothy Hurley, 59, of Sarasota, were shot to death. Darryl Vaughn Hanna Jr., 28, a fellow security guard, has been charged with two counts of second-degree murder and armed robbery.

On Aug. 5, Keith Lamar Jones, 28 and Rodney Williams, 23, were shot and killed at a Bayshore Gardens home after a 25-year-old woman came home in the 1100 block of Harvard Avenue and was accosted by three or four suspects. She was forced into a bedroom where she heard yelling followed by gunshots.

The woman was able to run away and call for help but when deputies arrived at the home, they found Williams and Jones dead. Officials have said there could be four suspects in the incident.

Though officials haven’t been able to officially connect the incidents, Andre S. Bryant’s body was found on the side of the road the same day near the intersection of Bahia Vista Street and Yale Avenue in Sarasota.

Sunday, the bodies of 18-year-old Diamond Shelman and her 8-month-old son Jeremiah were found inside their burning Avalon Square apartment.

Jeremiah was found face down on the bedroom floor and the Medical Examiner’s Office believes he died of smoke inhalation.

Diamond, however, had been stabbed and her throat cut, according to a probable cause affidavit from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, before the apartment was torched. Larry Bernard Williams, 20, has been charged in the deaths of his girlfriend and their son.

In addition, Sarasota police announced Tuesday morning that they are investigating the suspicious death of a man in Sarasota. His body was discovered in the area of 22nd Street and Palmadelia Avenue around 9:21 p.m. Monday. The man has not been identified.

Despite the heavy case load, Bristow said detectives investigating the homicides are able to “rise to the occasion.”

“The good news is we’re solving these homicides. … That’s all we can do for the victims’ families, give them closure,” Bristow said.

This story was originally published August 29, 2017 at 8:53 AM with the headline "Man found dead in vehicle; investigators suspect foul play."